Editorial | Reversal of student exodus is a positive sign for Hong Kong
Schemes to lure talent from abroad have helped turn around declining enrolment in the city’s schools. More must be done to sustain the trend
Since 2020, Hong Kong schools have suffered declining enrolment in part due to residents moving abroad in the wake of anti-government protests and the resultant imposition of the national security law.
Stringent pandemic quarantine rules set in place to counter the spread of the coronavirus further fuelled the exodus. In all, some 80,000 students withdrew from schools between the 2019-20 and 2022-23 academic years.
At long last, the trend appears to have reversed. It is a welcome turn of events.
There has been a net increase of 4,500 students in the academic year that started last September, according to enrolment figures submitted by the Education Bureau to the Legislative Council covering government, aided, private, international and direct subsidy scheme schools.
The Post calculated the net increase by comparing enrolment figures for Kindergarten One to Form five in September 2023, to those for Kindergarten Two to Form six a year later. The total number of pupils enrolled rose from about 741,000 to around 745,500.
At the height of the exodus, more than 30,000 left each year in 2021-22 and 2022-23, before slowing the next year, with just 4,600 students withdrawing in 2022-23.